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UConn 73, No. 8 West Virginia 62

Huskies Continue Climb Back With Win Over Mountaineers

February 23, 2010|By MIKE ANTHONY

HARTFORD — — Stanley Robinson had soared above the rim and dunked the rebound of Jerome Dyson's miss, a basket that inched UConn toward yet another momentous victory. Moments later, with under a minute remaining and the Huskies leading by six, Kemba Walker stole a pass by Devin Ebanks and raced in for a thunderous dunk of his own.

Intense celebration engulfed the XL Center. A crowd of 15,082, after having to hold its breath down the stretch, exhaled and enjoyed the colorful, decisive plays in what became a 73-62 victory over No. 8 West Virginia Monday night.

The UConn bench rose to its feet. Players skipped across the court. The situation's urgency had been met with all of the Huskies' energy, and they lived it up while closing out their third consecutive victory — one that places them squarely back in the NCAA Tournament picture.

"The place went crazy," Gavin Edwards said.

So did the opposing coach. Bob Huggins finally snapped after Walker's dunk. In a prolonged attempt to get at the officials, he was sometimes held back by three assistants. He was issued two technical fouls and ejected with 42 seconds left, walking down the tunnel as UConn took another step in this unforeseen late-season surge.

The Huskies (17-11, 7-8 Big East) have won three in a row, two of those coming over top-10 teams to go with an earlier victory over then-No. 1 Texas. So while Huggins' tantrum had to do with officiating, this is what previously-fragile UConn is now doing — causing celebrations, frustrating favored opponents.

Just nine days earlier, the Huskies had played so poorly in a 60-48 loss to Cincinnati that Jim Calhoun, making his return from medical leave that day, called it an embarrassment.

"I have no misgivings about what we didn't do," Calhoun said. "All I care about is what we're doing right now. There's no look-back in life. There are no mulligans. I'm just happy with what we're doing now and we have a lot more work to do."

Walker led the Huskies with 21 points, making 14 of 17 free throws, including three of four following Huggins' technicals to produce the final score. Dyson scored 17 and Robinson had 15 points and 13 rebounds for UConn, which made 30 of 42 free throws.

Ebanks led West Virginia (21-6, 10-5) with 17 points and nine rebounds. Leading scorer Da'Sean Butler, guarded by Dyson, was held to nine points. The Mountaineers were 12-for-23 on free throws.

Asked about his team not getting over the hump after trimming a 15-point lead to one late in the second half, Huggins said, "I don't know that I can answer that without getting in trouble." He went on to say, "They shoot 42 [free throws], we shoot 23, you can't win."

There were other factors in UConn's rise and West Virginia's fall, and Huggins did acknowledge that. UConn made critical plays, made shots, played tough in what became "a street fight," Calhoun said.

"This was going to turn into a fistfight and the last man standing was going to have a chance to win the game," Calhoun said. "It's not the prettiest game you'll ever see. But from a competitive standpoint, if you don't get involved in this kind of game, you can't win. You've got to get your nose dirty. You've got to get in there."

Trailing 5-0, UConn went on a 14-1 run after Calhoun picked up a technical just 47 seconds in. UConn led by as many as 15 in the first half and 37-28 at halftime. The crowd was amped and the Huskies were energetic, if a little sloppy. There was a good tone set.

But West Virginia took UConn's early hits and proved to be almost unflappable. The Mountaineers, outrebounded 21-11 in the first half, started getting to more loose balls and creating second chances on the glass.

With Ebanks making play after play, West Virginia eventually pulled to 53-52. But Robinson quickly made a put-back to push the lead to three. A short time later, he made a three after West Virginia had pulled to 58-56.

"No matter how many games we lost, we still have to come out and fight," Robinson said. "We know we're a great team. We know we're capable of beating anyone in the country."

The Huskies play their home finale Sunday against Louisville at Gampel Pavilion before closing the regular season with games at Notre Dame and South Florida.

"We've got a couple of significant wins right now," Calhoun said. "And none of it means anything except that we have Louisville Sunday."